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Battle of Xin Castle
The Battle of Xin Castle is a fictional battle between Wu Qiang of the Shu Kingdom & Cao Pi of the Wei Kingdom in the year 221 AD. It was named after the city of Xin Cheng, which resides in northwestern Jing Province. Background After Zhuge Liang pacified Nan Zhong, Sun Quan sent an emissary to Wu Qiang, asking for the return of Jiang Xia, Chang Sha, and Gui Yang. Wu Qiang decided to bring the message to the capital and have Liu Bei decide what to do. After the letter was brought, the Shu Court was divided: Guan Yu led the soldiers who detested the idea and Zhuge Liang represented the others who wanted to go with it. While the two sides argued, Wu Qiang thought of a way for the request to work for them. He believed that they could get Sun Quan to attack He Fei again while the Shu forces marched towards Liang province. He also predicted that Wei would take the advantage of both the transfer of territories and the simultaneous attacks to conquer Jing Province. Although he was wise, many believed that Wu Qiang's plan sounded ridiculous. Wei putting all of their forces into attacking Jing province in exchange for two strategic provinces in the east and west was unthinkable. However, Liu Bei trusted Wu Qiang's advice and agreed to his idea. While a majority of both Shu and Wu troops massed at their respected borders and the transfer of the eastern Jing territories was in progress, Wei prepared for a defensive at Tian Shui and He Fei. However, Cao Cao's son, Cao Pi, advised his father to give him command of a large force to conquer Jing. Having faith in his father's subordinates, along with their past examples of winning defensive battles when outnumbered, Cao Pi convinced his father of going with his plan. With Jia Xu & Guo Jia helping him, Cao Pi led a group of famous and valiant Wei officers from Luo Yang towards Wan Castle, fulfilling Wu Qiang's prediction. The Battle Prelude While the main Shu and Wu forces looked to conquer Liang province and Yu province, Cao Pi convinced Liu Shan's eunuch, Huang Hao, to rise up in rebellion in Fan Castle. He was able to take Liu Shan and Xing Cai as hostages and took hold of the inner castle. Wu Qiang successfully infiltrated the castle, turned a few of the rebels to his side, and saved Liu Shan. However, by the time everything was said and done, Cao Pi had arrived at Wan Castle and prepared his large force to march on Fan Castle. Hearing of the oncoming onslaught, the Shu army fled to Xiang Yang, where Wu Qiang divided it in to two groups. The first group, led by his sworn brother (Mu Miao), his trusted generals (Kuai Tuo & Yin Xiao), his eldest son (Wu Xiao), and his wife (Wang Po) fled to Nan Jun and would seek reinforcements from Bai Di Castle. The second group, led by Wu Qiang, his other sworn brother (Luo An), another trusted general (De Jia), his youngest son (Wu Yue), and Xing Cai marched to Xin Castle with Liu Shan. Wu Qiang hoped to divert Cao Pi's attention towards the north to keep him away from southern Jing. Fortunately, Cao Pi sent a small amount of troops towards the first unit, thinking that they were weak enough to defeat, and personally led the main force towards the second unit. At the 2-walled city of Xin Castle, Wu Qiang took a stand and waited for reinforcements to arrive. The First Wave Cao Pi successfully surrounded Xin Castle and prepared for a siege. He first sent Guo Jia to the eastern gates to pressure the officers protecting it to surrender. He then sent Jia Xu to deal with the enemy at the western gate. The Shu officers held strong with Xing Cai protecting the eastern gate and Wu Yue protecting the western gate. The Wei army couldn't break through them and Cao Pi had no choice but to hold his forces at the frontline. The Duel In an attempt to weaken Shu morale, Guo Jia advised Cao Pi to send out Xu Huang to challenge a Shu officer. Guo Jia believed that Xu Huang's might was enough to scare the Shu forces and weaken their defense of the gates. Jia Xu, however, thought that it should be Yu Jin that challenges a Shu Officer. As the two argued over the matter, Cao Pi sent 2 messengers at different times to Xin Castle asking for a challenge on behalf of both Xu Huang and Yu Jin. In response, Wu Qiang, against the wishes of the other officers, accepted both duels and decided to face them off together. Both feeling insulted of fighting a single man together, Xu Huang and Yu Jin charged to the center of the battlefield and awaited for Wu Qiang. When Wu Qiang arrived, the battle began. Xu Huang charged with his axe in hand and swung it repeatedly towards Wu Qiang, who dodged each of the swings. Then, Yu Jin jumped over Xu Huang and attempted to slice his trident over Wu Qiang's head. The latter, however, blocked it and flung Yu Jin back. The 2 grand generals of Wei decided to attack him at once and charged towards Wu Qiang. They swung their weapons at incredibly fast speeds, but each where blocked by a similarly fast Wu Qiang. When they finally became tired, Wu Qiang finished the duel with 6 hits on each general. Xu Huang and Yu Jin lost the duel and fled back to the main camp, weakening the Wei Army's morale. City of Flames Cao Pi had enough of the prolonged battle and decided to make a grand push towards Xin Castle. From the three gates, countless Wei troops charged towards the them at great speed. During this time, Wu Qiang received a report that the Shu reinforcements from Bai Di Castle were about to arrive. Wu Qiang immediately ordered his troops at the outer wall to retreat into the inner wall, lock the outer gates, and fall back into the inner castle. Cao Pi had the gates broken down and the Wei troops entered the inner city. It had appeared to be empty and Cao Pi hoped to push towards the inner gates immediately. However, Guo Jia and Jia Xu felt uneasy about Wu Qiang's sudden retreat and the empty city, advising Cao Pi to make camp in the inner city so that the troops can rest and be prepared. Li Dian disagreed with their advice, having his own feeling that they needed to push into Xin Castle. Cao Pi went with Guo Jia and Jia Xu's advice and had his troops make camp. He then ordered Li Dian to protect the Main Camp, not wanting him to attack Xin Castle and, perhaps, falling into Wu Qiang's trap. After the camp was made, Shu reinforcements, led by Pang Tong and Huang Zhong, arrived in front of the west gate outpost. Some Wei troops were confused, but Cao Pi ordered half of the army to deal with them and the other half to quickly push through the castle. However, because the troops weren't ready to fight, it took them too long to prepare and they failed to attack Xin Castle. Suddenly, one by one, the buildings of the inner city began to burst into flames. The Wei supplies had been burnt and the troops began to panic. Cao Pi, Guo Jia, and Jia Xu were dumbfounded: Wu Qiang, a man of the kindness who would never do anything to hurt innocent civilians, had set fire to a town of peasants for his own gain. While the Wei troops scrambled in fear, Wu Qiang led the officers in Xin Castle out into the inner city, defeating the Wei troops inside. Knowing that there was no victory in sight, Cao Pi attempted to withdraw to Fan Castle. However, it was reported that Cao Hong, the general put in charge of Fan Castle, was defeated by Wu Xiao and his troops. With his rearguard subdued, Cao Pi made a desperate escape for Shang Yong and hoped to cross the Wei-Shu border at Han River into Nan Xiang. Cao Pi made it passed the Shu officers and made it to an escape route towards Shang Yong. In pursuit of him was Wu Qiang, the troops and officers from Xin Castle, and the reinforcements. Escape from Shang Yong Cao Pi's defeat at Xin Castle weakened his troops' strength and will to fight as they attempted to flee to Nan Xiang. Wu Qiang's troops, however, were well rested, confident and prepared, making it to Shang Yong before Cao Pi. Wu Qiang had ambush units set throughout the battlefield and Cao Pi fell for a majority of them. Cao Pi was able to get a boat and crossed the Han River, where Wu Qiang personally waited on the other side. Although the Wei army could have easily been captured or decimated, Wu Qiang allowed Cao Pi to flee into Yong Province to tell his father of his failure. As he left, Wu Qiang thanked Cao Pi for being the fool that he outsmarted. Aftermath Cao Pi's massive force significantly lowered the troops and supplies for the defenses at Tian Shui and He Fei. With his humiliating defeat reported throughout the Three Kingdoms, Wei morale plummeted in Liang and Yu Province, allowing Shu and Wu to push and conquer them respectively. Wei's defeat also showed the strength and conviction of the Shu forces in Jing, preventing Wei, and even Wu, from ever planning another Jing campaign. For his victory and skills during the battle, Wu Qiang was made Grand Marshal of Shu and a huge banquet was held in his honor. Zhuge Liang then brought up the fire attack in Xin Castle. Wu Qiang revealed that he had evacuated the citizens before-hand and placed straw dummies in the buildings to fool the Wei troops. The fire hid the straw lines and made them appear to be real people, shocking the Wei troops. On Wei's side, Cao Pi was reprimanded and sent to protect Feng Xiang with Jia Xu. The other officers were dispersed among Yong and Xu province to prepare for a defense against an inevitable invasion from Shu and Wu. Officers Involved Shu *'Wu Ming': Grand Marshal of Jing *'Liu Shan': Crown Prince of Shu **Luo An **De Jia **Wu Yue **Xing Cai **Gao Xiang **Fu Qian **Wang Ping *Mu Miao: Commander **Kuai Tuo **Yin Xiao **Wu Xiao **Wang Po **Zhang Yi **Fu Tong *Pang Tong: Administrator of Yong An **Ma Dai *Huang Zhong: General of the Rear **Yan Yan Wei *'Cao Pi': Crown Prince of Wei **Zhen Ji **Cao Ren: Marshal of Wan **Guo Jia: Army Advisor **Jia Xu: Army Tactician **Xu Huang: General who Conquers Bandits **Yu Jin: General of the Right **Cao Zhen **Sun Guan **Han Hao **Zhu Ling **Liu Ye **Wen Pin **Xiahou De **Zhang Ji **Cao Chun * Cao Hong: General of the Rearguard Bold- Commander Army Statistics Shu *Troop Strength: 30,000 Troops *Reinforcement Troop Strength: 70,000 Troops **Casualties: 26,000 Troops Wei *Troop Strength: 300,000 Troops **Casualties: 270,000 Troops Category:Battles Category:Fictional Battles Category:Kure S. Akira